Homecoming
by wade wells
Summary: Two years after Keith leaves Arus and takes over the Ulysses, his Arch enemy returns. What will he do? How far will he go to protect Allura? Takes place after Realizations.
1. The Return

Welcome to Episode 2! It took me a while to get the first part the way I had it in my mind, but it's done. Whenever I post something I want to be happy with it. So for those that were waiting, thank you for your patience.

CMS-Hope you like it.

Mertz: As always, thank you!

As it is always stated, all characters are property of WEP. Except, Meghan and Iran. They are mine.

Ok, here's the first part…

Quote:

The Return:

The Black Hole of Galia sits in the middle of space, in complete solitude. For centuries, its home lies in the Denubian Galaxy; its neighbors, the various planets, suns and comets hovering and flying around it.

But unknown to most, deep inside Galia lies other worlds, suns, moons and stars; all different from the ones that live in the Denubian Galaxy. Some of these worlds hold creatures that are deemed magical, others deadly. Some planets orbit around the sun while others orbit in complete chaos. One planet is home to specific poisonous plants and creatures, while another is no different than Arus and Earth.

Galia holds many secrets and not many know about them. The few who enter Galia rarely make it out. Today is a special day, however. For today, Galia will allow someone to come out. Someone who believes his destiny is bound for greatness. Someone who is ready for total power; someone who is ready for revenge.

Galia hovers around space, lonely, but content with its solitude when all of a sudden a huge burst of light erupts out from its center and hundreds of starships fly out at an incredible speed.

Leading the ships is a large oval shape, needle nose starship with two levels; the top level is identical to the bottom. The only thing that separates both levels is a circular metal that is designed to fire different amounts of arsenals; behind the large ship follows about two hundred medium size ships with the similar shape.

On the bridge of the supership sits a man, the captain. His long white hair is in perfect condition; full, shiny and thick. He is strong. His body full of muscles that fit quite well with his uniform. His slim waist is wrapped by a thick belt with a skull's head as its buckle.

"How long?" He asks one of the pilots controlling the ships. The pilot punches a couple of codes on the computer control board and waits for the results.

"It will be about three days my Prince."

The Prince smiles.

_'Three days.'_ He thinks to himself. _'Three days and Doom shall rise once again.'_ He thinks about the last two years of his life and everything he gave up.

After he was defeated by Voltron, he escaped, returned to his father once again to strategize, only to find out that his father didn't want anything to do with him and had vanished him from his home planet. He was told never to return, until he could prove himself worthy. And that's just what he did.

Two years ago, Lotor entered Galia. Haggar told him that it was home to many worlds that would be worth exploring. Without any doubts or fears, he flew into the black hole and conquered every world that had a potential for him to gain riches and power. He visited planets that could provide him with followers and slaves; and gathered samples of plants and creatures from other planets for the purpose of using them for his gain.

It took him two years, but he now has it all. Everything he needs to take back what belongs to him. He sits on his new ship with a fleet bigger and more powerful than his father's. They're not robots, but living beings that are maniacal and willing to do everything to conquer and make themselves kings of their own worlds.

Lotor can't wait until his new army reaches Doom. He can't wait until he faces his father, can't wait until he starts terrorizing the Denubian Galaxy once again.

And, of course, he can't wait until he faces the Voltron Force. He definitely has plans for them. Thanks to Galia, he has many surprises waiting for them. But more than the destruction of his arch enemy, he is also excited about seeing a certain blonde beauty.

_'Oh Allura, sweet, beautiful, precious, conniving, bitch, Allura.'_

He has such a hard time loving and hating this woman. She has tormented his existence for four years. She is always on his mind and dreams. For the last two years while he conquered, defeated, killed and enslaved, she was there; in mind and spirit. In a weird way, part of why he's back, is for her, even if she doesn't appreciate it one damn bit.

He is sure that this time he will win her over because this time he knows where his faults lie. Where he was careless in the past, he will be more careful this time.

His primary objective is to destroy Voltron.

_'That comes first. Nothing else! Then, I'll go after her.'_

"My Prince," his thoughts are disrupted as he hears one of his officers call him. "We've identified a ship about 2,000 miles ahead."

"Let me see it." Lotor stands from his chair and walks closer to the view screen.

"Who is it?" The pilot asks, not knowing who is friend or foe in this galaxy.

"It's a supply ship." Lotor answers, punching some keys to magnify the image on screen. "One of King Iran's ships."

_'Iran, another one I'd like to finish off!'_

Lotor doesn't want anyone to know he's returned yet, but to miss this sweet opportunity to have some fun with the King and the Alliance, well, a little fun won't hurt anyone.

"Ulysses, what's your ETA, confirm," the face of Mike Richards appears on the view screen of the bridge.

"We're about an hour away, Mike," the green eyed woman with dark brown hair answers as she walks up to the screen.

"Great, I hate flying this ship. It's so damn small!"

"Hey, you wanted this assignment buddy, so don't complain my friend." Keith says as he walks in to the bridge smiling at his friend.

"I'm not complaining man. I got a couple of days to see my baby girl, I couldn't have asked for more. I just hate flying these ships, they're slower than snails."

The woman laughs. So do some of the officers stationed at the bridge. The semi circle shaped bridge is mostly made out of titanium and holds about twenty officers who are constantly on the computers guiding the massive ship.

"That's what you get for a couple of days of rest and relaxation. How was Sarah's graduation?"

"It was very nice Meghan," Mike replies to her question. "I just can't believe my daughter is starting high school in a couple of months. Middle school just zipped by us so fast…you should see the pictures I took of her; she's growing up so fast."

"No way, Mike. You took pictures?" Keith asks taunting his friend.

"Be nice Commander; you'll be happy to know that I only took a few pictures this time around."

"Maybe we should call Sarah and ask her." Meghan says playfully.

"No, she loves her dad too much. I'm pretty sure she'll cover for him…We'll call Jasmin." Keith continues taunting.

"With friends like you…" Mike says nodding his head. "Just for that, let me show you the prize winning picture."

Mike holds a picture of him, his daughter Sarah, and Jasmin. He's on the left wearing his Ulysses formal uniform. Sarah stands in the middle with her cap and gown and on the right stands an attractive woman, about Mike's age.

Both Sarah and Jasmin are beautiful women. They are of lighter complexion than Mike, but Sarah has his light hazel eyes and Jasmin's light honey brown hair.

"You guys look very nice," Meghan says looking at the picture.

"Yeah, hard to believe it Mike; Sarah's becoming a beautiful young lady. You have to thank God she takes after her mother." Keith continues to kid around.

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that." Mike says as he puts away his picture. "I'll have you know that I'm a great looking man."

"Wow Keith, I believe our friend here has a very high opinion of himself."

"Like I said before Meghan, with friends like you… Anyways. Hey, Keith, thanks for giving me the chance to see Sarah again. I hadn't seen her in almost three months and well, it was nice to be able to hold my daughter than just seeing on screen for a change."

"Don't mention it buddy. You've been pulling double shifts with this research mission for the last month. You deserved it."

"I deserved it? Keith, you haven't left the Ulysses in over 8 months man, _you _need a break."

"Alright, let's not start this conversation again—"

"Oh, please," Meghan cuts him off. "The last time you left the ship was at the summit meeting on Earth. That's the time Mike's referring to and that was only for six hours between giving your presentations and having the ship dock for maintenance."

"Are you two going to gang up on me?"

"Hell, yeah," Mike replies a bit seriously.

He knows how Keith succumbs to work and won't let up. But since the Summit meeting eight months ago, he's become even more of a workaholic than usual.

Seconds later Keith and Meghan see the image on the screen flicker and Mike's crew fall on the floor or hold themselves with something in order to keep their balance. Mike included.

"Mike? What's going on?" Keith demeanor shifts immediately to his Commander mode.

"I don't know." Mike checks his controls. "It seems that our ship's been hit and I have a full fleet coming after me."

"What?" Meghan raises her voice in shock. "You're just a supply ship."

"Adam, try to get in contact with them." Keith commands one of his officers.

"Right away sir," The blonde young man replies.

"Let me try Commander," Mikes answers him. Still keeping visuals with the Ulysses, Mike tries to communicate with one of the fleet's starships.

"This is Lieutenant Mike Richards of the Ephas starship Ulysses. We are not a threat. I repeat. We are not a threat. We are just passing through to meet with our commanding fleet."

He receives no response. Mike tries again with the same results.

"They're not answering me. This is strange guys."

"Let me try Mike," Keith says just as Mike's ship begins to shake again.

"Mike!" both Meghan and Keith scream. The Ulysses crew watches in horror.

_"Keith, they're hitting us. They're hitting us----"_

Those are the last words Keith and Meghan hear before the screen goes blank.

"Adam, get visuals back," Keith orders.

"Sir, I can't get a connection."

"Try again!" He snaps.

Adam continues trying to get a connection. He rarely sees this side of the Commander. He swallows hard, afraid to tell him the same results. Luckily Meghan reads his face and answers for him.

"Keith, visuals are gone and the ship has been…destroyed." her eyes watering as she hears herself say the news out loud.

The Commander stands in shock.

_'This can't be happening. It was just a damn supply ship. Who the hell would attack a supply ship?'_

"Keith?"

He doesn't say a word. He turns his back to the screen and runs his hand through his thick black hair.

"Keith?" Meghan says one more time, this time her voice lower.

"Fucking son of a bitch!" Keith roars.

The crew remains quiet, not knowing what to do and what to say. Never have they witnessed something like this.

Keith's eyes change. No longer peaceful and inviting, they are filled with anger, regret and frustration. They don't blame him for what happened, what had just taken place is horrific.

"Damn it," he continues burying his face in his hand.

Meghan walks up to him and faces him.

"Listen to me; this was not your fault. There's nothing you could have done."

Suddenly the screen lights up and a person appears on the screen.

"This is Prince Lotor of the Drule Empire. I'd like to speak to the Commander of the Ulysses."

Keith looks up in shock, but doesn't turn around. Anger reappears on his face instantly. Meghan looks at him questioning what he's about to do.

"Am I to think the Commander won't speak with royalty?" Lotor speaks with sarcasm.

"Answer him," Keith whispers to Meghan.

"What?"

"Answer him, do as I say."

Meghan immediately turns around.

"This is Lieutenant Meghan Nichols, third in command of the Ulysses."

"Where's the Commander?"

"The Commander is running protocol and specifics with the King as to the current events that have transpired."

"What about your second in command?"

"You killed him," she answers toughly.

Lotor remains quiet, but his smile never leaves his face.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant. One of my starships confused your ship with a potential enemy. My new army is not well acquainted with who are friends and foes in this galaxy. My apologies to your King and Commander. I will speak to the King personally to offer my apologies and restitution to the families of the deceased."

"Thank you Prince. But if you don't mind me asking, I didn't know you were back. After your defeat by the Voltron Force, I didn't think you'd return to the Denubian Galaxy again."

Lotor's smile immediately leaves him.

_'Gotcha, asshole!' _Meghan says to herself.

"Let's just say Lieutenant, I'm back and quite the changed man. I'll be in contact with your King." Lotor finishes as he cuts communication with the Ulysses.

Keith immediately turns around. "Martin, get the King on the video link in the conference room. Meghan, Adam, come with me."

Before he leaves, he turns to Martin again who takes over the bridge.

"Martin,"

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't let Lotor's fleet out of your sight."

"I'm on it Commander."

As they leave the bridge questions fill Adam and Meghan's head. Adam walks next to Keith. His blond hair a bit messy since he's rubbed it from the stress the group has just witnessed. His grey eyes are screaming to question his Commander.

"What's going on Commander?"

Speaking more to himself than to Adam, Keith just nods, "It's Lotor, he's back!"

The conference room of the Ulysses is decorated in a modern contemporary motif. The room has onyx colored walls with light fixtures surrounding the square room. In the front a large video screen that takes over the wall. The center table has a hologram of the Ephasian Crest. The walls have pictures of all the commanders of the Ulysses including Keith.

Every time he walks in that room, Keith feels like laughing, thinking always of his good friend Lance. If he would see his picture on the wall, with the rest of the past commanders, he would make so much fun of Keith that he'd never hear the end of his sarcastic jokes and remarks.

_'Lance buddy, I wish you were here_' were Keith's thoughts as he walked in to the room, not bothering to see the pictures on the wall.

As the three walked in, the King immediately appears on video screen.

"What happened?"

The three bow to the King before he asks them to take a sit.

"Lotor's returned your highness." Keith says looking straight at the king.

The King is shocked with disbelief, but then composes himself.

"Did Richards give a warning?"

"Yes, several times your highness," Meghan intervenes. "They did not acknowledge him."

"It was done on purpose," Keith stoic voice is felt around the room. "He wanted us to know he was back."

"You mean he wanted you to know." The King glares at Keith.

"No, your majesty, I don't think he knows I am in control of your ship. If he knew, he would have asked for me and I didn't acknowledge my presence. I was afraid that if he knew, he'd attack Arus immediately."

The King is quiet, meditating on what his team has told him. A short time later, he asks,

"Commander, do you believe he wants to target Ephas?"

"No, your majesty, his hatred lies first on Arus. But I don't doubt he'll target Ephas at some point, but not yet." Keith ran his hand through his hair. "I believe that Richards was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

_Because I put him there!_

Keith closes his eyes; regret and blame fill his mind.

"Lotor says he'll contact you to apologize personally and will offer restitution for the loss of the crew." Adam says offering more information.

"Alright," the King says, "I'll wait for his contact. In the meantime, I'll accept his apology until we know what he is up to."

All three agree.

"Commander, I'll send another supply ship to the Ulysses in forty-eight hours."

Keith nods. He's been planning and waiting for this moment. He just never thought it would come so soon. He knew that Lotor was smart, but he couldn't believe that he put together a new army this fast.

_What did he promise them? Where did he get them? And what the hell is he planning to do?_

It was then that he decides that he has to act. Allura was in danger. He was going to make good on his promise to her and to Arus.

"Your majesty, I request permission to follow Lotor." Keith says as he stands up and walks to the screen.

Both Meghan and Adam look at each other stunned.

"Commander-"

"Your majesty, you yourself said we need to know more. This is the perfect opportunity. I can follow him, see where he is heading and what's he up to."

The King sighs. He doesn't like the idea, but knows that Keith is right. Lotor is no one to take lightly.

"Fine, take one of the surveillance ships."

"Thank you your highness." Keith bows.

"When will you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning. That should put me a couple of hours behind him. I doubt that he'll suspect anyone following him."

"Alright Commander, but be careful." Iran closes his eyes and rubs his brown beard in thought.

For a man in his forties, he looks like he's still in his thirties. But his worries at the moment leave him pale.

"Meghan, Adam, I need to speak to the Commander in private, please."

Both Meghan and Adam stand to leave, but as Meghan gets closer to the door, she turns. Her wavy dark brown hair bounces on her shoulder. Her green eyes are fierce with determination.

"Your majesty, I request to accompany the Commander."

"Permission denied. Meghan, I will not put anyone else in danger." Keith snaps back.

"Commander, you can't go on your own, you need back up!" Meghan starts.

"Lt. Nichols-" the King begins before he is cut off.

"Ulysses is on a research mission for the next six months. I'm better use to you than being on the Ulysses at this time. Adam and Martin can take over for the time being."

The King looks at Keith. "She's got a point Commander. You shouldn't be going alone. I think Meghan should go with you."

Keith nods, in agreement. He's not happy with the decision, but decides not to challenge the King.

Adam and Meghan leave the room. Keith remains silent for a moment and leans on the table still facing the king. His head hangs low, but he begins to speak.

"You know what this means Iran,"

Iran nods. "We're at war…We'll need to contact the Alliance."

"I agree, but don't tell them what we're up to."

"Why not?" Iran says confused.

"I've known for years that the Alliance, every now and again has leaks. If Lotor finds out I'm on his back, he'll come after Meghan and me and he'll know that Arus is unprotected. I can't allow that."

"Alright, I'll tell them you're on a research mission for me."

Keith nods in approval.

"Do me a favor Keith, set up a private com on your ship. I'll be the only one who will have access to it; I want to keep an eye out on you both."

"Agreed." Keith smiles back at Iran. It's a bittersweet smile. Everything has changed in a matter of an hour.

"Just be careful Commander, don't make this personal." Iran warns.

_'Iran, if you only knew, it already is…'_

"We're approaching Doom airspace, sire." Lotor's officer says as he walks to the Prince.

"Finally,"

It has been the longest three days he has ever experienced. The wait was torturing him. The destruction of the Ephasian ship was the only highlight of his journey back.

"Make contact," Lotor orders.

Moments later, Zarkon appears on screen.

"This is King Zarkon of Planet Doom. Identify yourself."

"It's me father. I've returned as promised."

"Lotor, is that you?" a surprised King asks.

"Yes father, I've come to reclaim my throne."

"And you expect me to hand it to you that easily and to allow you in?" Zarkon begins laughing at his own question.

Lotor waits until his father stops laughing. He smiles and patiently waits to speak again.

"Father, I hold in my possession two hundred starships. I guarantee that they are faster, and more powerful than any of yours. My new army is twice the size of your measly androids. No father, I don't expect you to let me in, but, if you don't, I will not hesitate to destroy you and allow myself in."

Upon entering the inside of the castle, Lotor could see that part of the destruction that took place two years before when Voltron attacked was still evident. Still, the inside of the castle looked much better than the outside.

_'I'll get my slaves to start reconstruction immediately.'_

He entered the throne room with more authority than what Zarkon remembered. Four other beings follow behind him; they are officers of his fleet. All four are different in physique.

One looks human. He has short brown hair and brown eyes. He is as tall as Lotor, but thinner. The second man looks like a giant lizard, he's green all over, his body resembles that of a human, but his thick muscles are green, and his eyes a rich yellow. The third man is a portly fellow, short but extremely strong. Most don't know, but his hands can crash anything and anyone in a matter of seconds. The fourth man has a human face, but his body is that of metal as if he was half human and half robot.

"What do you want Lotor?" Zarkon's disgusted tone of voice is apparent as he looks at Lotor's entourage.

"I came to reclaim my throne." Lotor walks in with no greeting.

"Your throne? This was never your throne!" Zarkon fires back.

"You're right. If it would have been mine, I'd be leading the Drule Empire by now instead of sitting stagnant on this throne reminiscing about what ifs."

"Wishful thinking my son. Lotor you came back more demented than before."

"On the contrary father, my mind is all too clear." Lotor turns to his officers and signals them to take action. His officers step forward, waiting for more orders. "I'm through talking father, from now on you'll report to me. It's a shame that I have to keep you alive, but I have to keep appearances to the empire."

Zarkon remains quiet studying what Lotor's next move will be.

"Don't worry; the empire will still see you as King, but you'll make sure to give me credit for all our victories and when the time is right, you'll turn the throne over to me."

"And you think I'll cooperate with you and this ridiculous scheme you've planned?"

"Of course you will. Don't think I won't kill you, after all, accidents can happen."

Zarkon laughs wildly. "You're a fool Lotor. Who the hell is going to believe that my death will be an accident?"

"A little magic always works wonders." Says a voice from afar.

The old witch walks in to the throne room slowly, but with a look of triumph and joy.

"Haggar, what's the meaning of this? You're siding with this buffoon?" Zarkon says dubiously.

"I beg to differ Zarkon," Haggar says as she takes Lotor's side. "And please, do not speak of the future of King of Doom with such language."

Haggar's look of insolence pierces Zarkon's being.

"You had your chance Zarkon and you failed. Lotor took two years and endless planets to rebuild an army that will bring us victory. You, however, have done nothing! I'm through with you also!"

Zarkon dark blue face literally becomes pale. He looks at Haggar with disgust.

"What has he promised you?"

"What else?" She answers. "Power and magic, very powerful magic."

Haggar laughs. A diabolical tone resonates in her words.

"With all the magic that Lotor's brought back. We're sure to have victory."

Lotor doesn't waste any time. "Take him!" He tells his officers.

The human and the lizard man take Zarkon by the arms. Zarkon resists, but Lotor takes his gun and points it to his father's head.

"Try me," he tells his father. The hatred in his voice is enticing to him.

Zarkon weakens and allows the officers to seize him.

"Take him to his chambers and lock him in there."

Zarkon looks at Lotor with pure hate.

"This isn't over."

But Lotor doesn't bother to answer him. After Zarkon leaves, Lotor turns to Haggar.

"Come Haggar, one of my ships contains everything you need to get us started."

"ETA five minutes Keith," Meghan says to Keith as they close in on Doom airspace.

They arrive about a day and a half after Lotor. Keith didn't want to raise any suspicion so he followed slowly behind. During this time his mind has raced with many thoughts about how to run surveillance, keep low and get all the information needed to report back.

But he also thought about Allura.

_'I can't let anything happen to her.'_

Even if he died on Doom, he'd make sure that Lotor would never touch Allura. His thoughts are interrupted by Meghan's next question.

"How are we going to avoid detection?"

Not looking at her, he answers, "Our ship has a protective shield that will jam any detectors."

She nodded and looks at him. She is worried about him. Since Lotor's appearance, Keith has been a different person. He seems cold and distant. The man beside her is full of rage, and for some odd reason, fear. He is constantly thinking, studying everything in front of him, calculating. She turns her face and checks to see how far they've advanced.

"Keith, we're going in."

"Brace yourself," he says with no emotion.

"Why?"

Suddenly she feels the ship shake massively; Keith takes over and controls the ship.

"Put on your safety harness!" he yells.

"What's going on?"

"Electrical energy fields. They're designed to bring down any invading ships."

"Well, it's doing a fine damn job!"

"Engines are out," Keith says as he tries to restart the ship.

"What?"

"Don't panic Lieutenant." Keith looks over at her.

"I'm not panicking Commander!" she yells back.

"Hold on tight Meghan. Keep your controls at 90 degrees. I'm going to try to land this thing."

"Where?" All she sees are mountains with what looks like caves within them.

"Up those mountains, close to the castle."

"You're cutting it pretty close Commander."

Keith continues looking at his target.

"I know. Meghan, I know."

He grips his steering controls as hard as he can.

"Alright, we've passed through, the electrical field. When I tell you to, try to start the back up engines."

"What if they don't work?"

"Pray that they do," is his only response.

"Get ready….Five."

Meghan grips her controls and keeps the ship steady.

"Four…"

She looks straight at the mountains as they get closer.

'_Can't panic. Can't panic'._

"Three…"

The mountains get closer; she can see their definition now.

"Two…"

_'Our father, who art in heaven…'_

"One. Meghan, now!

Meghan presses the button to start up the back up engines. Instantly they roar. Keith pulls up his steering controls and dives into one of the of the mountain's caves. Meghan suddenly can't see anything, everything's gone black. Total darkness surrounds her. She doesn't know if she's alive or dead, she can only hear the screams coming out of her mouth.


	2. Hidden Secrets

Again, I make no claims to the characters of the Voltron world.

Here's part 2!

Hidden Secrets

Lance walks out of his bedroom pulling over a black and grey shirt over his head.

"Lance, I'm sick and tired of coming second in your life," yells a voice from his bedroom. "You said we were spending tonight together!"

He rolls his eyes while walking to his living room area to look for his car keys.

_Doesn't she ever lighten up?_

"Look Deb, I'm sorry. Something's come up." He yells back.

A short blonde walks out of his bedroom; her brown eyes flashing with anger. She's a cute girl. With a height of 5'1, thin, firm, and a short bob that reaches her ears; it is hard to imagine that Deb is twenty-five.

"This isn't fair. I'm on duty starting tomorrow and all weekend. It's our only night together and you decide to go to Shadows and drink beer with your buddies? _That's_ what came up?"

"Deb. I just really need to meet with the guys tonight." Lance continues to look for his keys as he speaks to her.

"What about us?"

Lance sighs, "We've spent all afternoon together. I promise we'll make time for each other next week. What else do you want from me babe?"

Deb stands in front of him; her eyes pleading for him to understand.

"What I want is a decent relationship. I want a boyfriend who takes me into consideration for once. I don't want someone who walks out on me whenever the hell he wants."

Lance sighs again. He can't handle this now. There are too many things going on.

"Deb, we've only been going out for four months. You can't expect me to be that person right now. You know what's going on in my life right now."

"I know that your friend has been missing since we started going out. But Lance, come on, we can't stop living our lives."

"You'll never understand." He replies softly. "There's a lot more at stake than Keith missing."

Deb stares at him with an even deeper anger.

"What? Voltron?" She says sarcastically with a laugh. "Come on Lance, even you have to admit that that part of your life is over. Even Lotor can care less about Voltron. There hasn't been an attack since his return."

Lance's demeanor changes so drastically that even Deb notices and takes a few steps back.

"Deb…Voltron is not _part _of my life. It _is_ my life! If you would know anything about me and what we did, you would understand me better."

"I'm sorry Lance, but-"

"No, I'm the one who is sorry. I'm sorry I can't be the person you want me to be. Not right now, Deb."

Tears fall from Deb's eyes, realizing what his words mean.

"Well, I guess I know what you're telling me." She says trying to keep her voice from breaking.

Lance turns away, not wanting to face her. He doesn't want to hurt her, but he knows things are too far complicated at the moment to give her the attention she needs. She walks to the kitchen counter and grabs her purse.

"Goodbye Lance," are her last words as she storms out of his apartment.

"Great," he mumbles to himself as he resumes his search for the keys.

Seconds later, he receives a video call. The soft voice of a woman electronic voice calls out from the video speaker by the wall.

_"Allura, Princess of Arus, calling…..Allura, Princess of Arus, calling,"_

"Connect," he calls out as he comes closer to the screen.

The video screen turns on and the words, _"Connection Successful" _appear. Immediately, Allura's face appears on screen. Her hair is pulled up in a nice up-do, her baby blues are screaming to ask questions.

With a small smile, she waves at Lance.

"Hey Lance."

"Hi Princess,"

"Have you been able to find out anything?"

He turns and sits on his couch facing her.

"No…nothing. I went down to Admiral Graham's office but got the cold shoulder again."

She looked at him confused.

"They basically ignored me."

"Oh," she says in a whisper.

"Have you spoken to King Iran?"

"Coran and I had a meeting with him this morning. He's not changing his story. He says Keith is on a research mission that's 'confidential.'"

Lance nods in frustration.

"There's something going on Princess. It's not like Keith to disappear on us like this for four months, not like him at all."

"I know it's not." She answers forcing back her tears. "Do you think this might have to do something with Lotor?"

"I think it has everything to do with Lotor! I'm pretty sure that our o'fearless one is on his tail."

"I can't blame him, but what's strange is that we haven't heard anything from Lotor since he returned. I'm not worried that he's back. We all expected it, but not attacking? That's what has me worried."

"We _should _be worried." Lance snaps back. "I'm sure he is planning something big to mark his return. Count on it."

Both stay quiet for a while, pondering. Then, Allura, very slowly raises her head to see Lance again.

"Lance, what if he has Keith?"

"I don't think so Princess. Iran seems very calm. He and the Alliance would have acted immediately if Lotor had him captive. There's also no ransom or any communication from Lotor. Believe me; he would have been static if he had Keith."

Lance falls back to his sofa, his frustration raising.

"I just wish we knew something," he says in an inaudible voice.

Just then the video screen splits in two and the second screen has the flashing words:

_"Admiral Graham's office, calling"_

"Hold on Princess, I have another call."

He puts her on hold, even though he can still see her on screen.

"Lieutenant McClain, I am private James Weiss. I'm calling you from Admiral Graham's office." A young cadet with dark black hair and hazel eyes tells him. "The Admiral would like to meet with you tomorrow at 1600 hours."

"I'll be there. Thank you private."

"He'll be waiting sir. Thank you. Have a good evening."

"You too."

Communication breaks off and the screen goes back showing the full image of the Princess.

"Something wrong?" She asks.

"No. As a matter of fact, something's finally right." He says as he stands up. "That was Graham's office. He wants to see me tomorrow afternoon."

Allura's face immediately lightens up as she hears Lance. "How did you finally get him to meet with you?"

"Well Princess, it goes without saying, but with my charming personality, natural good looks and great diplomacy skills, I knew that the Admiral, at one point or another, would see me."

Allura looks at him in total disbelief.

"You probably annoyed the man to death, didn't you?"

"Like there was another way!"

She laughs at him. Lance always makes her laugh.

"It's nice to see you laugh a little." He says to her.

"I'll laugh even more once Keith comes back to us."

Since Keith's disappearance, Allura is a different person. Her usual smart remarks and bubbly personality lost as the days went by without hearing anything from Keith. Lately, she seems depressed and constantly on edge. It is the first time he has actually seen her laugh in a real way, not forced.

Then there's the marriage issue. Coran has been pushing her to marry and form an alliance with the Prince of Nobus, Darien. Lance is not crazy about the guy. He's a pompous arrogant idiot, he once said to her.

"Hey, Princess, how's the little pompous Prince doing?" He asks as he remembers Darien.

"You're incorrigible, you not that. Darien is fine. But Coran is driving me crazy to push this marriage forward."

"What, don't you want to? The prospect of having little Dariens running around the castle doesn't excite you?"

"I'm not ready for marriage Lance." She answers quickly. "Not yet."

_Well, there's hope for me yet! What am I thinking?_

That was something he didn't even think would come to him.

"Call me immediately when you find out something." She says as he snaps back into the present.

"Sure thing Princess. I'm going to meet the guys now. Darrell wants to show me some new specs for the lions he'll be sending to Coran."

Allura nods, "Alright. I'll wait for our call tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight Princess," he says, not really wanting to leave her. She's relied mostly on him since the team left Arus about two years ago and now with Keith's disappearance, even more so. He, for some odd reason, was really enjoying that.

She smiles at him before communication is terminated. Lance stands up, finally finds his keys and leaves.

**************

Shadow's Lair is buzzing tonight. Every Friday night, the bar offers free drinks until nine and Ladies Night until four in the morning. This is also the night where civilians are allowed access to enter the base and spend time with the officers.

Tonight is rowdier than other Friday nights for reasons not understood to Lance. He finds that he can barely walk in without bumping into someone. It was like the entire city decided to celebrate at Shadows.

Rock music is pounding from all areas as he makes his way within the bar; dodging waitresses carrying trays above their heads and officers mingling and sparking conversations with the pretty civilian ladies, Lance finally makes it through.

He finds Hunk and Darrell sitting at a table by the far end of the bar. Hunk waves at Lance signaling where they're at.

"Guys, whose bright idea was it to meet here tonight?" Lance yells.

"Yours!" both Hunk and Darrell say in unison.

"Don't complain," Hunk says as Lance sits down. "At least I was able to find us a table." He slides a cold bottle of beer at Lance.

Darrell cleans his glasses. "We thought you wouldn't make it."

Lance opens his beer and takes a gulp.

"Thanks. Sorry Hunk. I was a bit delayed."

Under the dim light on top of their table, Darrell shoots Lance a tiny wicked smile.

"So, how's Debbie?"

"It's Deb; she hates being called Debbie…and we broke up about an hour ago."

Darrell turns and faces Hunk with an even bigger devilish smile.

"Pay up Hunk!"

"What!" Hunk nods in disbelief. "No way Lance. I gave you at least two more weeks. At this rate, Shorty here is going to run me dry."

Shocked, Lance can't believe what he's hearing, "You guys have been betting to see how long Deb and I would last?"

Both his friends start laughing.

"Yeah, Deb, Hannah, Lucy.."

"Don't forget, Joyce." Hunk cuts Darrell.

Lance rolls his eyes, annoyed at his friends.

"Hey, we're not here to discuss my love life, or lack there of. Darrell, show me the new specs for the Lions."

Hunk takes the last gulp of his beer. "Wait, have you heard anything regarding Keith's disappearance?"

"Well, the good news is that the Admiral finally is going to see me tomorrow afternoon." Lance proudly states. "I guess he finally saw I meant business."

"Or your non-stop nagging finally tired the old man out," Darrell says drinking his beer.

At 18, Darrell has finally been able to feel like one of the boys. Outside the base, he still needs three years before he can officially drink, but inside the base, the rules are different and his exemplary behavior was enough to show trust among peers and superiors.

"That's some mouth you have there Shorty. I wonder how'd you act if our o'fearless leader was here."

Darrell's little smile fades away after Lance's words.

"I'm worried about him."

"Me too." Lance puts his hand on his friend's shoulder. "But I'm sure he's alright. He's tough. I'm sure there's a method to his madness."

"Yeah, I can't wait till he comes back, so I can pound him for making all of us worry!"

"I'm sure he has a damn good reason Hunk." Lance tells his friend. "But when he does come back, you can be sure that all of us are going to pound on him."

The three men fall silent for a moment, thinking about their leader.

"Well, then," Darrell says breaking the silence. "Let's make ourselves useful." Grabbing his laptop from his bag on the floor, he places the device on the table and turns it on. "Let me show you what I'm sending Coran."

**************

Lance waits in the Lobby of the Admiral's office thinking about leaving protocol behind and barging in to the man's office demanding answers and action. But he knows better and instead, he watches the secretary type away on her computer.

She's an older African-American lady with long black hair pulled back nicely in a bun. Her uniform is nicely pressed and she sits with such great posture that Lance can't seem to stop staring at her.

_She must have been a real doll when she was younger._

He looks at his watch, its 4:45pm

_Forty-five minutes! Damn it, how long do I have to wait?_

'_Hang in there buddy. If you had a bit more patience, you would be able to handle situations so much better...'_ He thinks to himself as if it was Keith talking to him.

"God, you even order me around in my own damn mind!" He answers himself in a whisper.

"Did you say something Lieutenant?" The secretary says as she stops working to look at him.

"No, no, ma'am. I'm sorry."

She continues to look at him and smile empathetically, "Don't worry, he'll be out soon."

"Thank you."

Moments later another officer, a young Asian woman walks up to him.

"We're sorry to have kept you waiting Lieutenant. The Admiral will see you now."

He stands and follows the young woman down the hallway. Once they reach the Admiral's office, she punches a code on the keypad attached to the wall and the door swooshes open.

"Please, have a seat."

She walks to the Admiral's desk and leaves some files while Lance takes a seat.

"He'll be right with you." She says as she walks out.

Minutes later, the Admiral walks in. Lance stands up and salutes.

"At ease Lieutenant. Have a seat."

Both men take their seats at the same time. Lance looks at the Admiral's face. He looks tired and his eyes hint a bit of sadness and regret.

"Thanks for seeing me Admiral."

"I know that we've been evading you, but we ourselves weren't sure of Commander Kogane's whereabouts until a couple of days ago."

"You know where he is," Lance says telling him, more than asking.

The Admiral looks at him, surprised to have been interrupted.

"Damn it, Admiral. I'm not Keith and I'm not one for diplomacies." He nods in frustration. "I'm sorry sir, please go on."

"As I was saying, we didn't know where the Commander was until a couple of days ago when we were able to pick up a video signal from one of our galaxy satellite links. We believe it was the last transmission he sent to King Iran."

The suspense is killing Lance, "Well, what did he say?"

"I'll let you see it for yourself."

The Admiral pushes a button from his desk and his computer screen rises up. He clicks his mouse and in seconds Lance hears Keith's voice. The Admiral turns the screens towards Lance so he can see.

_"shhhhhhh _this is Keith_ shhhhh _crashed _shhhhhhhh _Nichol's out._ shhhhh"_

As he listens, Lance sees in between the static Keith's face. He looks like he took a nasty hit to the head. The side of his forehead is bleeding and he has a large bruise on his cheek.

_"shhhhh _Doom_ shhhhhh"_

Lance's eyes widen. "He's there!"

_"shhhhhh _contact_ shhhhhh"_

Communication is immediately brakes off. Lance falls silent for a moment.

"That was four months ago?" He asks.

"Yes, we showed the King the recording we acquired. It was then when he told us that the Commander followed Lotor to Doom to run surveillance. He says he hasn't heard from him since."

Lance stands up and runs his fingers through his hair.

"If Keith's on Doom, we have to go and find him." He demands.

The Admiral lowers his gaze as if ashamed of what he was about to say.

"Lieutenant…I've spoken to the Alliance Council and requested the same thing. Unfortunately, Lotor has not attacked or threatened anyone. At this moment, to infiltrate Doom and admit we ran surveillance without reason, well, then we'd really run the risk of an all out war from Doom."

The Admiral's tone is one of sadness. He also has a soft spot for Keith. He's known the Commander since he was twelve when the Alliance took guardianship of him after his parents' death. And he feels, in a way, that he's lost a son.

The Admiral looks at Lance and sighs, "Lance…it's been four months. Lotor could have captured him or killed him."

"All the more reason to go!"

"We don't have proof! There's nothing we can do at the moment." The Admiral says frustrated himself with the outcome.

Lance remains quiet and just nods in complete disbelief.

"The Alliance Council decided this morning to treat Commander Kogane's disappearance as an MIA."

Lance stands and just stares at the Admiral. For the first time, in a long time, he was speechless. He also knows there was nothing that the Admiral can do.

"Lieutenant….the Commander named you as executive to his personal belongings."

"Who, me?"

"Yes. I don't know if you knew, but the Commander doesn't have any living relatives."

"He doesn't?"

Graham wasn't surprised. Keith was never on to discuss his personal life.

"His parents died on a space mission when he was twelve. Both of them were Alliance pilots."

Lance never knew. In the past four years that he had known Keith, he never spoke about his childhood or his family. Thinking back now, Keith usually evaded any questions or conversations from his past.

"I never knew."

"I'm not surprised; Keith rarely talked about his past. Either way, I called you in today to give you his security box. It contains his belongings." The Admiral says as he opens his drawer and hands Lance a medium rectangular box.

Lance takes the box; surprised that things have gotten this far.

"I've also spoken to King Iran to let him know of the Alliance's decision." The Admiral continued. "We will contact you as soon as we know what our next steps will be."

The Admiral stands up. Lance knows the meeting is over. He stands up as well.

"I'm sorry Lieutenant. I really wish I could do more."

"Yeah, me too Admiral."

**********

Lance walks towards his apartment door in the hallway of his building when he's stopped by one of his students.

"Lieutenant McClain! Lieutenant McClain!" He hears from behind him.

"Officer Summers. I'm sorry, you really caught me at a bad time-"

"I just need a couple of minutes of your time." Says the tall and lanky blonde with oval hazel eyes.

"Officer, make it quick. I'm really in a hurry tonight."

"I'll be fast, I promise. I just wanted to know if you had reconsidered your decision on grounding me."

Lance sighs. He knew the kid had a lot of military experience and potential, but not in flight. His test scores were extremely high, not as high as Darrell's of course, but impressive. But it was his flight skills that worried him. His defensive techniques were weak and he always missed his mark on counter attack exercises.

"Summers, I wish I could, but my decision remains the same. I can't allow you to continue. You have great skills. I'm sure you can do something in surveillance or maybe sea combat, but not in flight. If I put you up there, you run the risk of killing yourself or others."

"But Lieutenant, you don't understand. My grandfather, my father even my brother, they're all pilots. It's a tradition in my family. I can't fail them." The kid says nervously.

"Summers, you aren't failing anyone. You're still a great soldier. I'm sure you'll go on to do great things."

"You don't understand…They'll see me as a failure. I can't let that happen. Please sir, give me one more chance." He pleads raising his voice in desperation.

Lance nods, he feels for the kid, but he can't let him go back up.

"I'm sorry Officer Summers, I can't do that. Look, maybe we can meet with Colonel Burrows, he's head of tactical surveillance, maybe he can help you with some options."

Summer's eyes turn from plea to complete rage.

"Screw you Lieutenant!" He says as he turns around and walks away.

"Summers, wait!" Lance yells, but the kid ignores him and takes the elevator to leave.

_Great! I definitely don't need this!_

He thinks about going after the kid, but there are more pressing issues as he pays close attention to the black box he was carrying.

He presses his security code to swoosh his door open. Upon entering, his video phone calls out.

"Connect!" He says immediately.

Allura's face appears on screen. With eyes blood shot red and cheeks flushed, it's an indication to Lance that she's heard the news.

_Shit, she knows._

"Where have you been? I've been trying to reach you all day."

"I'm sorry Princess. I've been teaching back to back classes all day and then I met with the Admiral this afternoon. I was going to call you when Hunk and Darrell got here."

She ignores all he says.

"Oh Lance, he's dead. Oh God, he's dead." She says crying now uncontrollably.

Lance looks down. He can't stand to see her cry.

"When did the Admiral contact you Princess?"

Still crying, Allura manages to speak, "This morning, he wanted me to know and to start looking for another pilot in case Lotor commenced attacks on Arus again….Oh Lance, this can't be happening."

Lance walks to his living area and puts the box on the center table.

"Princess, the Admiral told me that he's MIA, that doesn't mean a person is dead. There's a difference and honestly…I don't even think he's MIA."

"What do you mean?" A glimmer of hope is expressed in her tone.

"Princess, I've thought about this. Keith…Keith may not have wanted to be found by the Alliance. I think he's still there. I'm pretty sure that if he was captured, Lotor would have let everyone know."

"So you think he's on Doom hiding?"

"He's on Doom _spying_. The problem now is that the Alliance found the recording from four months ago when he first landed." Lance says as he takes a seat on his couch. "Keith told me once that he thought the Alliance had leaks at times. That's probably why he didn't want them to know what he was doing."

Allura's eyes shine in surprise. "Lance, if there's a leak and Lotor finds out-"

"We better go get Keith before Lotor finds him." Lance finishes the thought from her.

"What do we do then?"

"I think its time we return to Arus. You should order us back immediately."

"I'll speak to the Admiral tomorrow. I'll tell him that I want you all practicing and ready for battle in case he attacks."

"Good. Once we get there, well need a plan to enter Doom. We'll need an extra person to fly one of the lions; I can probably contact Sven later tonight to see if he can help us."

Allura looks down and turns away from Lance.

"What?" What's wrong?"

"Darien has requested to fly Black."

"I beg your pardon?"

Allura sighs, "Lance…he asked me to marry him….and….I accepted."

Lance closes his eyes; this day can't get any worse.

"Why, I thought-"

"After we heard the news this morning, Coran and he insisted that it was imperative that we form an Alliance between the two planets immediately. I didn't know what to do, I felt….so pressed. Before I knew it, I accepted.

Lance sits quietly. He feels like he has just been sucker punched in the stomach. But he tries to focus on the mission.

"Princess…." he sighs, "Darien will not be ready for this mission."

"I know…contact Sven. I'll talk to Darien and let him know."

"Good." He felt a bit more relieved. He couldn't have this amateur fly any one of these perfect machines just to show off to the Princess and the team.

"I'll talk to the Admiral to deploy the three of you within two or three days."

"We'll see you then." He says to her, still bothered by the news he's just heard.

"I'll be waiting…I have faith we'll all be able to be together again."

"So do I Princess." He answers.

_But it won't be the same._

She smiles sadly. Somehow she had read the thought he had just had.

"Well, I'll see you in a couple of days, Princess."

"Yes, goodnight Lance."

"Goodnight Princess and…congratulations."

She nods without answering and then the connection terminates.

Lance lowers his head and sees the black box still on his table. Reluctantly, he takes it and opens it.

Inside he sees what little there is of Keith's past. There are a couple of photographs, the hilt of a laser sword and a small black pouch.

The photographs are of Keith as a child and what looks to be his parents. One picture is of a beautiful woman with black ebony hair and rich blue eyes. She's wearing a white dress as she and a little boy with the same hair color but dark eyes, sit on the sand of a beach. The waves can be seen from afar. The boy's smile is bright, truly happy. Lance has never seen that type of smile on Keith since he's met him.

Another picture is of a man wearing a Galaxy Garrison uniform from about twenty years ago or so. He has short black hair and dark eyes. Lance would have thought it was Keith himself if it wasn't for the old uniform or the short hair.

_He looks exactly like his father. No wonder every woman he encounters falls for him. Look at his parents!_

He puts the pictures back and picks up the hilt of the sword. He looks at it trying to see how to open it. It's all black with a silver lining. He tries to open it, but is unable to. He puts it away.

Finally, he opens the black pouch and takes out two wedding bands. Lance looks at them. One is a man's band, the other a woman's; both made of platinum.

_His parent's maybe?_

Suddenly he hears Hunk's voice on the intercom. He quickly puts everything away and closes the box. No point in sharing this with Hunk and Darrell when Keith had entrusted him with it. Opening to the rest of the team felt like he was accepting Keith's demise.

_I know you're not dead my friend. _

He puts the box away in a desk drawer and quickly goes to the door to greet Hunk and Darrell.


	3. Reunion

First, Welcome to part 3! Sorry if I took so long. I want to thank my friends and reviewers who have really taken a liking to my saga. Thank you for seeing my hits and misses.

CMS-Haven't heard from you. Hope to hear from you soon so you can tell me what you think! Starduchess-Hope you like it. Momiji-We read it through a couple of times. I hope I'm doing better with the typos. Smithy-Sorry you hated Deb. Am sure you'll love who I'll pair Lance with. Potterwing-Your hopes were right! Feli3-I hope it meets your expectations!

Mertz: As always my friend, thank you! My workdays are now more fun with you around!

3. Reunion

After Allura terminates her connection with Lance she sits for a couple of minutes in front of the large blank screen across from her.

"What a horrible day," she says softly to herself.

The day couldn't have ended any worse. Unable to stop the constant harassing from Coran and Darien, after they were informed of Keith's status, she foolishly agreed to form the alliance between Novus and Arus through marriage.

And that's just what it was to her, an alliance, a pact, a merger between two planets. This was by no means a definition of a marriage. For marriage was a commitment of love; a union between two people who loved and cared for one another. She didn't love Darien, she never would. Her heart already belonged to another; someone who she hadn't seen in months; someone who was missing.

When she had heard the news this morning, her heart felt as it has taken a harsh beating. For the first time in her life, she saw no hope, no reason to continue dreaming of a life that would never be. A life without Keith was no life at all, she mentally had said to herself before she agreed to Darien's proposition. She had always hoped that she and Keith would be together someday. In her heart, she felt it. But after hearing the news, it was as if a black cloud covered her mind and judgment and she saw everything, but hope.

Now, now Lance parted that cloud and a glimmer of light bathed her. If Keith is alive she will do everything in her power to bring him back, no matter what.

As she stands up and walks out of the control room heading to her chambers, she realizes how long it has been since she had seen Keith in person. The last time was at the Summit meeting on Earth a little over a year ago…..

_Keith had just finished his lecture on Ephas' protocol for diplomatic treaties when he heard a familiar voice as he walked out of the auditorium._

_"Keith," a soft voice shyly called out._

_He turns around to see the most beautiful sight he had seen since he left Arus. It was his princess, his Allura. He instantly felt his heart skip a beat._

_"Al-" he catches himself. "Princess!" He smiles._

_He fought the urge to put his arms around her. She on the other hand, didn't deprive herself and immediately went to him._

_"God, I've missed you!" She says holding him._

_He thanks the Gods above that she did what he only dreamed of doing._

_"You have no idea how much I've missed you." He tells her as he cups her cheek with his hand._

_They just hold each other for a moment; looking into each other's eyes, hoping each second would last a little longer. Then, Keith forces himself back to reality. After all, he could only hold her for so long before bystanders would notice the Commander of the Ulysses clinging to the Princess of Arus._

_"How are you Princess?"_

_"I'm good" she nods; unable to control her smile as she looks at him with such love that she thought she'd burst. "But, I'm still not used to you guys not being at home. It's kind of boring now."_

_"I know what you mean. My team is so well behaved; I grow bored out of my mind at times. I tell you, I have a newfound appreciation for Lance."_

_They both laughed thinking about their friend and his quick wit and sarcasm._

_"You've lost weight," She says to him._

_"You know me, I find that I forget to eat at times." He says with a chuckle. "I haven't lost too much I hope."_

_"Not much, but enough for Nanny to think you're sick!"_

_"Well, the Ulysses never sleeps and really, it's been a rough week, but things should go back to normal after the Summit."_

_"Keith, don't forget to eat for heaven's sake! If you keep forgetting you'll end up disappearing." She says rubbing his arm._

_"Princess, if it makes you feel any better, I'm meeting Lance and the guys for lunch…would you like to join us?"_

_Keith notices the disappointment in her face and knows what her answer will be._

_"I'm sorry, I can't. I need to meet with the heads of our neighboring planets to discuss bartering agreements. I'm pretty much stuck all day at the Summit. Not as fun and exciting as lunch would be, huh?"_

_"It's a shame you can't make it," he says showing disappointment of his own._

_"I know."_

_They stand there silent, wanting to say so much but unable to._

_Keith wants to tell her how much he has missed her. How in a year, he has felt so alone without her. During the days at the ship, he is so busy that it was easy to think a little less of what he'd left behind. But the nights, the nights were different. He thought of Allura constantly, replaying in his mind memories of when they were together. _

_The one that kept replaying the most in his mind was that of his last night on Arus, where he held her before he left for his new post. He could still feel her body against his, his hand caressing her hair. He remembered that strapless dress that gave him a perfect vision of her beauty._

_For the last year, he saw her through a video phone, only speaking about lion details and upgrades, Arus' security, and Lotor updates, if there were any. Personal talk was rare and very limited as having Lance around in most conversations prevented them from anything beyond the obvious conversation._

_Seeing her in person, however, brought those feelings that were buried inside him. He didn't think that the mere of sight of her would bring those feelings back to the surface. Keith found that his feelings for her had grown even stronger. He couldn't stand his present condition any longer. He wanted to tell her how he felt. He realized that if she gave him the opportunity, he'd give up everything just to be with her. He had to tell her, he couldn't allow himself to keep this secret any longer. _

_"Princess,"_

_She saw how his demeanor change into a serious expression filled with determination and nervousness. Whatever he was about to say, it was something big and of much importance to him._

_"Yes, Keith," she said softly, hoping she'd hear those magical words she longed to hear._

_"Princess, I've kept silent for so long--,"_

_"Princess Allura!" _

_Keith and Allura heard a loud voice from afar. Both turn to see Coran walk along towards them with a tall man with light blonde hair and dark green eyes that almost look olive._

_"Princess," continues calling the man. "We've been looking for you everywhere."_

_"Prince Darien," she simply answers him. "I didn't know both of you were looking for me." Allura told him quite annoyed at the interruption._

_"Commander, how nice to see you." Coran says with a genuine smile._

_"Hello Coran, it's nice to see you too," Keith replies to the trusty royal adviser. Both shake hands realizing that they too missed each other._

_"You're presentation earlier today was outstanding."_

_"King Iran has taught me well." Keith says with a pure tone of humility. _

_The King had taken him under his wing, teaching him everything he could to make Keith an even more prepared Commander. He had told him that the military would teach him discipline, strength, and honor. But he would teach him to be better than most Kings of the present when it came to Royal duties. _

_"I'm sure the King is just enhancing what you've always had Commander." Coran acknowledges. "Let me present you to Prince Darien of Planet Novus."_

_Keith turned his sights onto the Prince. The Prince's haughty features were not hiding one bit. But Darien's plan of intimidation didn't go very far as he soon found that Keith couldn't be easily intimidated._

_"A pleasure, Prince," Keith says looking straight into the man's eyes as he shakes his hand._

_"I'm sure it is Commander."_

_The Prince immediately turns to Allura who watches the Prince's behavior with mild disgust._

_"Allura, before we begin the meeting, I wanted to discuss my interest in forming an alliance between both of our planets." _

_"What do you mean?" she asks perplexed._

_  
"I believe our bartering agreements will be even stronger for us if our neighboring planets see our union."_

_"Our union?"_

_Darien takes this opportunity to plant his seed. He saw the way both the Commander and the Princess behaved towards one another. He didn't know what exactly the conversation was about, but knew that there was more to them than just a mere friendship of sorts. He had to cut this straight from the root if he was to gain his Princess._

_"Surely my presence at your ball last month was an indication of my hopes to marry you."_

_"That ball was to honor the council members of my planet."_

_"Yes, but I was the only Prince invited. I knew then of your intentions as well."_

_"My intentions? You're father, the King, was invited because he is very close friends with one of the elders."_

_"Ah princess, regardless of the reasons why I was there, you have to agree that we would be a perfect match. We are both of the right age to marry and we are currently living in a time of peace where we can develop our planets and grow stronger." He says looking at her. "You would benefit from Novus' advancements in medicine while I would benefit from Arus' defender, Voltron. After all, I can offer you power, status, and riches beyond anyone here…any Prince, at this conference of course." He said looking at Keith._

_Coran looks down, unable to meet Allura's angry eyes; he was ashamed that the Prince would display such arrogant behavior. He was also ashamed that his own power could not go beyond just silence at this point. _

_Allura is at a loss for words. Never had she thought the Prince would speak in this fashion. She quickly turned to Keith who looked at her with an expression of disappointment._

_"Keith--,"_

_"Princess, I'm sorry, I really have to get going to meet the team. The Ulysses is leaving tonight for our next assignment. It was nice to see you again." He says as he takes her hand and kisses the back of it. "Coran, Prince, I hope you enjoy the rest of the Summit." _

_"Keith, wait," she says stopping him as he turned to leave. "I need to speak to you in private. Excuse us gentlemen." She looks at Coran and Darien as she takes Keith's arm and walked away._

_They found an empty conference room where they could speak in private._

_"Please tell me what you were going to say before we were interrupted."_

_Keith sighed. __**'What on Earth was I thinking?'**_

_He could never compete with the Prince, when it came to riches and status. His love, no matter how deep, was no match for someone who could offer her so much more. All he could offer her was a life where she would always be safe and protected. _

_He loved her; more than she would ever know. He knew that there would be no other after her. If he couldn't be with her, then, at least, he'd make sure she'd have the chance to live the life she deserved, a life where she would have peace and freedom._

_"Princess, all I wanted to tell you was that…I haven't forgotten my promise to you. I'll always be here to protect you."_

_"Is that all?"_

_He hesitates before speaking. "Yes, it is."_

_Suddenly she becomes frustrated and angry with him. She knew there was more to what he was going to say._

_"Then, Arus thanks you, Commander." She answers him tersely._

_She sees the look in his eyes at her tone of voice and choice of words, but she doesn't care._

_He composes himself quickly to tell her that he'd see her at their next meeting._

_"I'll see you then, Keith." She gives him a weak smile. He knows it is fake, but still manages to give her a smile before he walks out._

Looking back, she regrets being angry at him.

_'How else could he have reacted after hearing Darien's antics?'_

Then, she looks at herself.

_'Why didn't I say anything then!'_

He had told her two years ago, before he left, that when she was ready, he'd be waiting for her.

_'Why couldn't I stand up to Coran and Darien? Why am I still afraid of the Council? And why the hell am I strong when it comes to war and so pathetic when it comes to my personal life?'_

Inwardly she blames herself for Keith's disappearance. He is now missing, Lotor was back in the picture and she made the biggest mistake of her life this morning. Things couldn't get any worse.

"You look lost in thought." She hears a voice as she approaches the doors of her room.

She sees Darien standing by her door, his eyes focusing on her with interest and curiosity.

"I thought you left for Novus earlier today." She tells him matter-of-factly.

"Well, after everything that happened today, I thought you could use some company." He waits to see her response. She doesn't say a word. "You were locked in the control room for quite a while."

"I was speaking to Lance."

He sighs, "You know Allura, now that I'm going to be your husband I expect you to include me in these 'meetings' you have with the Voltron Force. Sooner or later they'll have to get used to the fact that I'll be their new leader."

Allura, wishes at this moment that she had an inkling of patience and tact that Keith has when it comes to situations of arrogance and haughtiness. But she doesn't, and finds that Darien's feelings of superiority get the better of her.

"Darien, let me inform you of a couple of things. We may become husband and wife, but it should come as no surprise to you that I do not have any interest in you nor will I ever."

She takes a step closer to him.

"Second, my meetings with _my_ team are private and will remain private until I so choose. And last…You're not the leader of the Voltron Force, that position belongs to Commander Kogane."

"But he's dead!" He raises his voice at her with disdain.

"He's MIA, not dead. There's a difference." She quickly corrects him. "And I'm going to find him."

Darien grabs Allura's arm, angry with her insolence, his eyes open wider. "I will not allow you to go, out of all places, to Planet Doom to save some _miserable_ pilot!"

"That 'miserable' pilot that you refer to has saved my life more times that I care to count. He helped Arus become what it is today. He's part of what makes Voltron Voltron! I owe him more than you'll ever know and I am going to find him!"

"You're not going!"

"I didn't ask for your permission." She says as she pulls out of his hold and storms into her room locking it as soon as the doors swoosh closed.

"Allura! This isn't over!" he yells at the closed door before he too storms out of the hallway.

********

Meghan stares at several viewing screens in front her. The small surveillance room next to the cockpit was small enough to cause her claustrophobia at times, but as time passed, she slowly grew accustomed to the cramped space. She and Keith had done what was next to impossible by planting the castle with wireless cameras and listening devices in heavily guarded areas where they thought they could get the most information about Lotor's plans.

It had been a tricky task. Within the first two weeks of their arrival, they took turns infiltrating the castle and installing the devices in areas that included a large conference room, the throne room, and several other rooms where the soldiers worked on projects that included artillery and other defensive weapons. Most recently, Keith was able to infiltrate Haggar's lab where she was working on so many different things that even Keith felt frightened by her new magic, as he heard Lotor once say.

Unfortunately, as soon as the camera was installed, it burned out. It was as if the magic in the lab made it self-destruct. Keith quickly uninstalled it and brought it back with him. He didn't want Haggar to find any trace of it. All other devices were working at almost one hundred percent efficiency.

All this was able to be done thanks to Sven, who upon being freed from Doom, created Blue prints of the castle and maps of the areas around it. Keith was smart enough to make copies of these plans before he left on the Ulysses. He never thought he'd use them, but just felt safer having them with him, should ever a need arise. He was glad he thought ahead.

Both took four hour shifts making notes of conversations and looking for patterns of work, meal times, meeting hours, hours of patrols etc.

Meghan stretches her arms and looks at her watch.

_'Two hours! I've only been doing this for two damn hours.'_

She hates running surveillance. So far, she hasn't complained about the small space they had been living in for the past four months. The awful military meals were tolerable, the shower that shot more mist than water took some getting use to but at the end it did the job, neither one of them smelled. Her living quarters were smaller than a shoe box, but some days she was so tired that her small puny bed looked and felt like a king sized bed.

But surveillance…she hates sitting and just looking at the sometimes fuzzy screens. She's amazed that Keith could easily take two four hour shifts back to back. Today, she had to practically throw him out of the room so he would rest.

For the past week, Keith has stayed in the surveillance room for hours insisting that something was going on. Change was about to take place. The routines and patterns of the soldiers had mildly changed. Not that she notices anything new. She begins to thing that Keith is over analyzing the situation.

_'Maybe he's seeing ghosts where there aren't any.'_

As she keeps looking at the screen, she notices Haggar walk into the one room she and Keith have been trying to gain access to for the past couple of months. This is the first time she's seen anyone walk into the locked room since they've arrived.

"Well, looky here," she says to herself as she stares closer at the screen.

'_Keith's right. Something's up.'_

"The door…it's activated by an eye scanner."

She notices how Haggar touches the door and a small machine pops out and scans her eyes. Once she enters, two guards stand by the door as if to protect the entrance. Then the old witch disappears.

Meghan looks at the screen a bit longer, but the witch does not reappear.

"What are you cooking in there witch,"

Suddenly she hears a scream come from Keith's room.

"Keith!" She runs to his room. Since the ship is not too big it only takes her a few seconds to run across the short hallway.

She presses his code quickly and the door swooshes open. She finds him having another nightmare. He's screaming as if he's being attacked.

"Keith, wake up! It's a dream, wake up!"

After a few seconds, he opens his eyes and stares blankly at her until he regains his senses.

"Another one?"

"Yeah," she says concerned.

With his heart still pounding, he manages to get up from his bed.

"Do you remember it?" She asks.

He shakes his head, "No, I never remember them."

"They're getting worse you know."

"I'll be fine Meghan."

She sighs in frustration. "Bullshit! Ever since you went into that demon's lab and smelled that shit she was making, you've been having these dreams."

"Don't worry Meghan. I'll see Dr. Gorma when we get back to Arus and after we're done here."

She looks at him still very concerned. He is pale, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. His eyes are red, most likely from lack of sleep. She goes up to him and wipes his sweat from his head with her hands.

"You have a fever again."

"It will go away." He tells her trying to reassure her that he is ok.

"Damn it Keith, I've never met a more stubborn man than you."

"What do you want me to do? We can't do anything about this now."

She looks at him frustrated, but he's right. At the moment, there's nothing either of them can do.

"I'll bring you some aspirin to lower the fever. Go to the surveillance room. There are updates."

He immediately looks more attentive.

"What happened?" He asks her.

"Haggar went inside the room."

Keith immediately walks to the surveillance room and sits down. He sees that the guards are still standing by the door.

Meghan comes in soon after, holding a glass of water and two pills.

"Here, take these."

He takes them without leaving taking his eyes off the screen. He then hears Lotor's voice and his sight shifts onto another screen; the one that shows the conference room.

********

Lotor sits at the head of the rectangular table, his ranking officers attentive to his every word.

"Haggar believes our weapon is almost complete. As soon as it is, our first attack will be Arus."

"Why Arus?" says the human like officer. "Wouldn't it be easier to attack those planets that are weak in military capacity first?"

Lotor looks at him. He hates being questioned, but knows not to let his feelings come out. Not now anyway. He needs these men to be on his side. He can't show his annoyance at them yet.

"Ammad, it wouldn't matter which planet we attack first. As long as Voltron is around, he'll protect every planet. We need to finish him off first. If we destroy Voltron, only then will we gain access to the rest of the planets in the galaxy."

"So what's the plan?" asks the half-man, half robot looking creature.

"Ah Raysak, our primary objective is to destroy the castle first. We'll attack at night. It will be a big surprise to them."

"What about those lion robots you were talking about? They'll be quick to attack us."

Lotor's look of victory is very evident.

"When they come out, we'll blast the weapon immediately. I want to see how they'll get away from this one." He says half laughing.

From the monitors, Keith sees as Haggar leave the mysterious room and moments later reappear in the conference room.

"What's the news, witch." Raysak asks.

"The weapon is complete. We are ready to attack."

"Good," Lotor says as he stands and starts to leave the room. "We'll leave at dawn. That will give us two days travel time."

"Wait Lotor," says Ammad. "What about the Princess?"

"If there's a chance to veer the blue lion off course, then we take it. If not, continue as planned." Lotor finishes before he walks out of the room.

Keith stares at the monitors, thinking.

"Keith,"

"Meghan, I'm going to contact the King. You make sure we disconnect all devices. We leave in an hour.

Keith stands up and walks to the cockpit. Once he enters, he connects to the private line only Iran can connect to. After a couple of minutes, the King appears on screen.

"I've been trying to reach you for days, Keith."

"I'm sorry Iran, I didn't want anyone to pick up any outside transmissions since things here are a bit hot. There have been many things going on in the last couple of days, so I disconnected anything that might interfere or cross signals."

"I've been meaning to tell you." The King begins. "The Alliance located the first transmission you sent me after you landed."

"I knew it was a matter of time. I tried to hide it as best I could."

The comm. lines were destroyed after the crash. Keith still wanted Iran to know they were ok, so Meghan managed to create a comm. line that hopefully Iran would pick up via his satellites, but Keith knew the Alliance would also be able to find the signal if they looked deep enough.

"The Alliance listed you as MIA. I'm pretty sure the Princess and your friends think you're dead."

"Damn it," he explodes. "Well, I can't think of that now. We have deeper problems. Lotor is going to attack Arus. They'll leave tomorrow morning. I'm leaving now so I might be able to gain a couple of hours ahead of him to warn Arus."

"So the war begins," Iran says sadly.

"Yes,"

"Are you ready Keith?"

"Is anyone ever?" Keith chuckles lightly.

"You look like shit you know." the King says as he looks concerned at Keith's pale features.

"Thanks. You just reminded me of someone."

"You better get going. I'll send the Ulysses to Arus to serve as backup."

"Iran," Keith begins. "This isn't your battle, at least not yet. I don't want Lotor going after my crew."

"Commander, if we don't work together now, we'll never be able to defeat him. You yourself said he is stronger than before."

"It's frightening. He's going to be a bigger challenge this time."

********

"Have you been able to fix the com device?" Keith asks Meghan as he continues flying the ship.

They were able to take off without any major problems and without any detection. Keith knew he was good, but leaving Doom without so much as an inkling of trouble was just too good to be true.

"Sorry Keith, the comm. is fried. It's a good thing you told the King to contact Arus."

She sits down next to him and starts co-piloting the ship.

"Keith,"

"Yeah," he says still looking straight ahead.

"I…I'll miss you."

He turns around and looks at her. She smiles at him.

She continues talking to him. "I know what returning to Arus means."

"Meghan--,"

"It's ok…I knew this day would come." She tells him. Her eyes are watering, but she keeps her composure. "I've always known what Arus means to you."

He smiles at her, also knowing what she means.

"I'll miss you too Meghan. It was fun. The three of us…"

"I know…I miss him."

"Me too. But I want you to know, I'm not only doing this for Arus…I'm doing it for Mike also. He didn't deserve this."

She nods in approval.

"For two years, you two were my brothers, in a way, my protectors. I lost Mike and soon, you."

Keith puts the ship on auto pilot for a moment and faces her.

"Meghan, you're not losing me. I'll always be there for you. Always."

She hugs him and he smiles back at her.

"Thank you Meghan." He says to her.

"For what."

"I know the last couple of months have been hard for you…thank you for helping me."

"What are fri….sisters for." She says kissing him on the cheek. "I love you Commander."

"Me too Lieutenant. Me too."

********

Darien walks into the control room and relieves the guard on duty. His encounter with Allura left him in extremely bad spirits and unable to sleep.

_'Insolent little girl!'_

Well, he'd show her that he could outdo her beloved Commander.

No matter how hard he tried romancing her it didn't work. He knew she had feelings for Commander Kogane. But she had to realize that he was beneath her. Hell, even Lotor outranked the pilot in class. He'd show her. He'd show her that he'd be a better leader. After all, he attended the best schools and was the best pilot in his class at Novus. Sure, he never fought in battle, but how different could it be from a simulator.

Darien looks at the control room and decides to get familiarized with the castle system. At least when he meets with his new team in a couple of days he'll know what the control room offers.

Just then, he hears a transmission come in.

"This is King Iran, trying to contact Princess Allura or Coran…"

"If you can hear me, please contact the Princess or Coran. I have an urgent message from Commander Kogane…"

Darien's eyes grow wide.

_'Damn bastard is still alive!'_

"Commander Kogane has found information leading him to believe Lotor will attack in two days time. Can anyone hear me?"

Darien sits in the control room chair thinking. This was his chance to prove to Allura that he could take over; show her his expertise. Now all he needs is to be able to take over black lion.

"Can anyone hear me? This is King Iran---"

"My King, we have heard your message. We will go inform Coran and the Princess of the news. Thank you" Darien says as he cut the transmission.

Now he needs to develop a plan to get his lion.

********

In the conference room Allura, Coran and Darien sit with the rest of the Voltron Force. A heated discussion is taking place regarding Darien's latest news.

"How do you know that Lotor plans to attack Arus tonight?" Lance asks skeptically.

"I have my sources Lieutenant."

"Lotor hasn't made a sound for months and now you say that tonight he'll attack?" Coran asks as well.

"Coran, we don't have time to waste," Darien says defensively. "My suggestion is that we use this time to train and devise maneuvers when we battle tonight."

"I'm sorry Prince. But have you gone out of your mind?" Hunks asks laughing as he listens to the Princes' suggestion.

"Yeah, how can you possible think of training for a few hours before we go into battle and on Black Lion?" Darrell asks in disbelief. "That lion is the most complex of any of them. The only one close to knowing how to fly that thing other than Keith is the Princess and even she has had a hard time maneuvering it."

"I've read the books; I'm familiar with all the artillery. It's just a matter of getting used to the ship."

Lance is about to lose it when Allura looks at him and signals him to quiet down. He does so reluctantly.

"Darien," Allura begins. "I don't want you to think that I'm not grateful for your efforts, but what you are proposing is not only reckless, but utterly ridiculous."

"Allura!" He says stunned.

"These machines are my father's gifts to Arus. I will not allow an inexperienced person to touch them for the sake of mere selfishness."

Darien's eyes grow wide with fury. His plans are falling apart at the seams.

-------

"What's the ETA?" Meghan asks as she walks in to the small cockpit of the ship.

"Five minutes. Put on your harness."

"You flew all night?"

"Yeah, I gained a couple of hours."

"You could have awakened me," she says as she looks at him. He looks tired, but surprisingly alert.

"I didn't want to sleep."

"The dreams?"

"Yes, but I promise I'll see Dr. Gorma as soon as possible."

"I hope so." She says worried about him.

"Alright, we're coming in."

-------

"Well then, how do you propose to fight Lotor with four lions?" Darien asks defensively.

"We've managed before, we can do it again." Darrell says to him.

"Do you know where they're going to attack first?" Hunk asks.

"No, I don't. That they weren't able to tell me." The Prince says beating himself up for cutting the King off so quickly that he didn't ask him other details that would have helped him more now.

Lance turns to the Princess and whispers to her, but without looking at her as to avoid being seen by Darien. "There's something wrong here. Princess, something is not adding up."

-------

Keith lands on the docking bay and Meghan follows close behind. A guard makes his way towards them.

"Commander Kogane…I thought you were dead," the guards states looking at Keith as if witnessing a miracle.

"So I've heard." He answers. "But I promise to tell you all about my resurrection later. For now, I need you to take me to the Princess and Coran."

"Yes sir, they're in the conference room. Follow me."

-------

Coran sits quietly as he listens to Darien argue his case. He understands the Prince's insistence in taking command, but he questions his motives. Was he doing this for the safety of Arus or just to impress the princess?

"Prince Darien, please understand," Lance pleads. "You being out there puts all of us in danger. We cannot fight and protect you at the same time."

"I think we're wasting our time." Darrell says as he stands.

"Yeah, Darrell's right," Hunk backs his friend. "Prince this conversation shouldn't be happening at a time like this. You can't fly; if you really want to help us and you're doing this for the good of Arus, you should use your energy to help us create a plan for battle."

"I don't think you know who you are speaking to Hunk," the Prince snaps. "Whether you like it or not, I am your new leader and you will not question me!"

"Darien!" Allura yells at him. "You're not helping the situation. That's it. We've wasted enough time on this subject. We should be focusing right now on where Lotor plans to attack."

"He's hitting the castle first!" Allura turns as she hears a familiar voice. She looks at the door to find Keith walking in.


	4. Battle

Alright, here's the ending to "Homecoming". Don't worry, the story will continue.

Thanks to my friend Mertz who not only proofread for me, but also helped me in creating a regenerating robeast. Just need to think how I'm going to top off this one….Thanks a lot Mertz! (I'm being sarcastic!) Just kidding my friend…I love you lots.

CMS. I'm going to need you for the next story….I'll email you….

Well, enjoy and know that I don't own Voltron or the characters. This is my interpretation of what it would be like if a real grown up series existed….I wish!!

Battle

Allura gasps as she sees the man standing by the doors.

Keith hasn't shaved, wearing a five o'clock shadow, he stands looking tired, but alert and very determined. His long unruly hair is now cut short at chin level, the top section has angled layers that is still messy and to Allura, incredibly sexy. Jagged bangs cover his dark brows. He looks strong; his muscles still chiseled and firm despite the lack of comfort and exercise he must have experienced at Doom.

Allura can't help but smile; her happiness at seeing him evident and incredibly annoying to Darien, who is watching her.

Keith looks at her and smiles back.

Lance immediately stands up.

"Keith! Thank God, man," he says as he takes his friend into his arms. "Don't ever fucking do that to me again."

Keith hugs his friend back. "I'll try buddy. I'm glad to see you too."

"Chief!" Darrell practically jumps out of his chair and joins Lance. "I'm glad you're back." He says happily.

"Me too Darrell." He answers Darrell and hugging him back.

Hunk doesn't even say a word. He walks up to Keith, smiles at his old friend and hugs him.

Allura starts to make her way around the conference room table when she feels her arm being tugged back. She turns back to see Darien taking hold of her.

"We may not have a marriage as you said Allura," he starts, "but I'll be damned if you will disrespect me in front of these men."

Her azure eyes glare at him fiercely with disgust and hate. She pulls her arm away and manages a cool nod at him.

He releases her and they walk together toward the team. Coran sees the way Darien acts and shakes his head with disgust.

_'This is not the man for her, but she's already said yes.'_

At seeing his friends again, Keith feels a surge of energy pass through him, but as he sees Allura walk up to him, he can't help the wave of emotions that race through his mind.

If time really makes the heart grow fonder, then Keith's heart is about to burst. Just looking at her makes those intolerable months at Doom worth every second.

"Commander," he hears a voice coming from behind her. He then notices that it's Darien's voice. He comes up to him and shakes his hand. "My fiancée and I are happy you are back on Arus, safe."

Keith looks at Allura. She can see his eyes full of hurt. Unable to look at him any longer, she lowers her gaze from him before she speaks to him.

"I'm glad you're back Commander….I'm glad you're safe."

Keith feels like he has been punched in the stomach. The air leaves him, but he tries to compose himself.

"I…I thank both highnesses for their concern." He manages to say. Trying to clear his mind as quickly as he can, he regresses back to his Commander mode to hide the pain, but Allura instantly notices it, trying with all her will to keep from running up to him and comforting him.

"We must act fast," Keith states seriously. "We need to stop Lotor."

He opens the door and calls Meghan into the room. Allura sees the beautiful brunette with oval green eyes as she walks into the room. She's about a foot shorter than Keith and her uniform shows the flawless curves of her body.

Lance studies her as she walks in. _'She's beautiful,'_

"Team, meet Lieutenant Meghan Nichols, second in command of the Ulysses."

"Nice to meet you all," she says in greeting as she looks at everyone. She takes a look at Allura, who studies at her with curiosity. "What do we do now?" She asks turning to Keith.

"Control room. Follow me."

**********

As they walk to the control room, Lance runs up to Keith and whispers.

"So Chief, why didn't you present us to your second in command months ago? Is she just in command of one of your ships?" He asks humorously.

Keith rolls his eyes.

"Lance you don't change do you? We're at war once again and all you can think about is my love life?"

"So you mean to tell me nothing is going on between that babe and you?"

"You're right, absolutely nothing."

"Really?" Lance asks dumbfounded. "Oh, Keith, come on! Are you ever going to break the rules?"

Keith gives him a humorless laugh, "Not while I'm Commander."

"Why do you ask, do you want to meet her personally?" Keith continues asking.

"Well, maybe. I kind of have my sights on someone else right now. But if it doesn't pan out..."

Keith only nods, but doesn't say a word. He continues to walk, but can't stop himself from asking.

"Lance, is it true? The princess…" he whispers.

"Yep, it's true unfortunately." Lance says not willing to say anymore about the subject.

Keith continues to walk.

---

Upon entering the control room, Keith turns to Coran.

"Coran, please turn on visuals, I want to take a look at our airspace."

"Commander, you seem to take quite a lot of liberties in the short span of your return."

Keith turns to Darien, but it is Coran who speaks.

"My Prince, I believe the Commander has the best expertise in our current situation and as Chief Advisor I am willing to give him all authority at this moment."

Darien falls silent. Keith doesn't say anything, but waits until Coran pulls up visuals.

As Coran pulls up visuals, Keith's eyes widen when he sees what's on screen.

"They're already here." He mutters to himself as he sees Lotor's starships closing in on Arus.

Darien manages to hear. "That can't be. Iran said they'd attack at night."

"You spoke to the King?" Allura turns to Darien with accusing eyes.

Keith answers Allura's question even though it isn't directed to him. "I asked Iran to contact you and Coran when I found out about Lotor's plans." He tells her without taking his sights from the screen.

"Your contact all this time was the King?" Lance utters realizing Darien's manipulating scheme.

Allura walks up to Lance. "Now is not the time." she says to him and tries to calm him down.

Keith listens but doesn't say a word; he too decides it is not the time to deal with Darien.

"Keith, are they heading for the castle?" Meghan asks.

"No, it doesn't look like it." He continues to look at the screen perplexed. "This isn't right. Something is not right."

"What? What's going on?" Darrell stands next to Keith.

"They're not heading towards the castle. They're going to Luna Valley."

**********

"They're going to destroy the city." Allura raises her voice. "All those people."

"We need to get going!" Hunk shouts.

"Suit up! We're leaving now." Keith says as he turns. "Coran, are the lions ready?"

"Yes Commander, the Lions are ready and fully charged for battle."

Everyone turns to leave. As Allura starts off, she's stopped by the Prince.

"Where do you think you're going?" Darien asks.

"I fly Blue, remember?" she answers him sarcastically.

"That was two years ago. You can't do this!"

Keith steps in. "Your highness, I need the Princess in order to form Voltron."

"Keith, you don't have to explain," Allura begins.

"It's ok Princess. I'm sure the Prince is worried about you." Keith says to her. He looks at Darien. "I'd never put the Princess in harms way. I'll take care of her."

"I'm sure you will," he seethes.

"We better get going." Keith says looking at Allura. She nods as they turn and leave.

**********

Minutes later the entire team gathers back in the control room dressed in full battle uniforms as Coran raises the dais.

"Just like old times, huh Keith?" Lance asks his friend.

"I hope we can still fly like old times," Keith responds.

"Don't worry; I've been practicing on the simulations Coran sent us. I've got it covered. You?"

"Not once." Keith responds looking at him.

"Why am I not surprised." Lance rolls his eyes. "I bet you haven't forgotten a thing have you?"

Keith smiles, "We better get going."

"Show off!" Lance snaps back.

As they are about to make their exit, Meghan stops Keith, "Hey, please be careful, alright. I don't want to have to go to a second memorial service." She tells him nervously.

"I'll be ok, promise," he tells her smiling at her and giving her a quick hug.

Allura turns her face, not wanting to look at them, forcing back her tears.

"Meghan, contact the Ulysses. Let me know how far out they are. I don't want them to move a finger unless I give them word."

"Will do."

"Gentlemen, Princess, let's go"

**********

Luna Valley is the furthest city from the castle. It is surrounded by forests and hills. Lotor took advantage by hitting this city first because it is the easiest to destroy and will burn the fastest. It takes the lions a while to reach the city. Lotor knew he would get enough damage done before they'd arrive. As they approach, they can already see the destruction taking place. Most of the city is beyond recognition. Some people are running trying to evade the ships that target their lasers at them; others are lying lifeless on the ground. Lotor's starship is flying over the city, still trying to leave it in rubbles.

"Princess, Darrell, try to find survivors, we'll cover you, but keep your eyes peeled."

"Will do." Darrell says. Allura follows behind him.

"Lance, cover the East and South ends of the city. Hunk cover North and West."

"Right Chief!" Hunk answers as he makes his lion turn.

"Where are you going?" Lance asks.

"Straight to the main ship. I'm going to try to take out the smaller ships as they exit."

"Be careful."

"You too Lieutenant."

The three lions separate and head toward their designations. Keith flies up to the master ship using evasive maneuvers when needed and destroying ships that come his way.

Looking from afar, Lance sees Keith heading towards Lotor's ship, destroying everything that comes within his sight.

_'Even after two years without flying Black, he makes it look so damn easy.'_ he thinks to himself.

As Keith makes his way towards the ship, his comm. signal goes off. It's Lotor.

"Commander, how nice of you to join my party."

"You know I couldn't stay away." Keith says seriously as he quickly switches Lotor's transmission to a private link.

"I know; you're relentless that way. That's one of the qualities you have that annoys the hell out of me." Lotor smiles maliciously. "So tell me, how did you like the accommodations on Planet Doom?"

Without showing any surprise Keith looks at the screen to study Lotor.

"How long did you know?"

"Not surprised?"

Keith looks away from the screen and destroys a ship coming at him.

"No, I figured it out when you attacked Luna. You knew we'd be preparing for an attack on the castle. You were hoping to distract us enough for you to destroy Luna significantly. You also told me your whole plan practically verbatim. That's not the way you play. You never tell _your_ team what you're going to do until the end. Should have caught on immediately."

Keith evades another starship and fires at two who are making their way towards him.

"Also you were too detailed and my escape was too easy."

"You always seem to surprise me Commander."

"When did you find out?"

"A couple of days ago. It seems I have friends at Galaxy Garrison that I didn't even know about."

"So you could have prevented me from coming back."

"Yes, and believe me the temptation was great, but Haggar told me something that was even more interesting."

"Really, what was that?"

"She told me that it didn't matter whether I let you go or kept you there. You're as good as dead anyway."

Keith looks at him.

"Seems you haven't been sleeping well Commander. Haggar's been telling me that the nightmares are getting worse. That's stage one. But don't worry. It will get worse."

Keith evades another starship.

"Don't worry Keith; from what she tells me death is quick, getting there, however, is pure misery."

Suddenly, Keith hears Meghan, "Keith what's going on, my monitor shows your heart rate increasing."

"I'm alright Meghan."

"Always the saint aren't you? I take it you won't tell anyone you've been infected with one of Haggar's concoctions. Well don't worry; it'll be our little secret."

"Don't claim victory just yet Lotor." Keith firmly says. "I'm not dying today." With that he throws a couple of torpedoes at Lotor's ship, sealing the exit of the rest of the ships.

"Damn fool!" Lotor barks. "Let's see what you can do with my latest toy!" he snarls as he breaks communication.

Suddenly from Lotor's ship, one of the compartments opens and a flash of light engulfs Black lion. Keith is blinded by the light; when he is able to see again a huge fireball is coming right up at him.

The fireball is so close that he thinks it going to hit him at any second, but almost immediately he feels himself being pushed aside and out of the way. Red pushes Black away from the fireball as it continues on its way.

"You alright?" Lance asks.

"Yeah, what was that?" Keith asks.

"I don't know, but we're about to find out."

The ball lights up more and slowly a figure appears.

The figure is a large muscular beast with chiseled arms. It has two arms on its left side, two arms on its right with razor sharp claws extending out of his hands. The head is covered by a metallic mask with snakes coming out of its head. Its brown skin is covered with strong sharp spikes. The robeast is equipped with a leather like whip and it is ready to attack.

The beast first takes the whip and tangles Red by the back legs and swings it around tossing it like a ragged doll.

"Lance!" shouts Keith watching in horror as Lance hits the ground. "Lance…Lance…answer me!"

"I'm ok…I think I busted my shoulder though."

"Can you fly?"

"Yeah, I'll be ok." Lance says as he pulls Red back up.

Keith flies towards the beast. "Ion knife!" He shouts as he cuts the whip. As he makes his way around the beast he sees that the whip regrows and becomes two.

"What the hell!" Keith yells as he notices that the knife had no effect on the beast. "Darrell, Hunk, Princess, regroup. We need to form Voltron now!"

As the team joins together Keith yells, "Ready to form Voltron."

They all fly up. The beast follows trying to break the combining sequence, but is unsuccessful as the power surrounding the lions prevents it from breaking it. Within seconds Voltron stands, ready for battle.

"Keith, we can't fight here." Allura states over the com. "We'll level the city."

"I know Princess; let's see if this thing will follow us." He replies taking Voltron up even higher.

Keith prays that the team is ready. Despite the many practices on the simulations, the team has not fought like this in over two years. The creature takes the bait as it follows Voltron out of Arus' atmosphere and into the vastness of space.

As Voltron turns around, it sees the robeast launch at him.

"Launch Electro Force Cross!" Keith yells. Voltron then emits the cross from its chest and strikes the beast temporarily paralyzing it for only a moment. This gives Keith enough advantage time to prepare for the next attack.

Keith moves to the next line of attack. "Lion head attack!"

All four lion heads detach from Voltron at super speed and hit the beast tearing away the four arms of the creature.

Upon returning to Voltron, the team notices how the arms and the whip are destroyed and the creature seems helpless, but seconds later new arms reproduce and instead of four arms, the creature now has six; three on each side.

"Shit!" Lance shouts. "That thing just regenerated!

"Let's hit the head," Hunk shouts.

"No, Hunk." Keith tells him. "It will just regenerate again."

"Well, we've go to do something; it's coming right at us." Darrell yells.

The creature flies with full force towards them.

"Sting ray missels!" Keith yells again and both Yellow and Blue open fire. But this only manages to delay the beast a bit. It then releases the snakes on top of its head. The snakes wrap themselves all over Voltron emitting a high energy shock that surges through all of it.

The team yells as they feel the electricity all over their bodies. Keith tries to overcome the pain and thinks of how to get out of the trap.

"I'm going to try to hit its eyes, hopefully, it will neutralize it." he says out loud.

"Ion darts!"

The tiny darts release from Voltron's head hitting the robeast right in its eyes. It screams out in pain. The snakes let go of their grip and pull back.

"Lion torches." Keith yells again and tries to burn the snakes, but immediately finds out that double the original amount regrow.

"There's no way to destroy this thing!" Lance tells Keith from the visual comm.

"You're right, we can't kill it." Keith says.

"Then, what the hell do we do?" asks Hunk.

The creature charges again, using all six arms it grabs and covers Voltron. Its spikes pierce Voltron's chest and arms.

"Keith, system's crashing!" Darrell yells.

"There's got to be a way to stop this thing for good." Allura yells.

Keith tries to think of a way to neutralize the creature, knowing fully well Voltron cannot stop it, for now.

_'This one is different from the rest. We can't destroy it, but we can….'_

Suddenly he realizes what to do.

"Meghan!"

"Yes, Commander."

"How far is the Ulysses from here?"

"Minutes way. What do you want them to do?"

"We can't destroy this thing, but we can freeze it."

"What are you saying?" Allura breaks in, wanting to know what to do.

"We're going to take this thing to Enud Princess. We're going to have to dump it in the planet's icy waters."

"Yeah, once frozen, it shouldn't be able to regenerate. Its molecular genes will be altered." Darrell says taking note of what Keith plans to do.

"Right. Meghan, I need you to order the Ulysses to prevent Lotor's ship from following us. If they're preoccupied fighting, then they won't be able to control the robeast."

"Will do Commander."

"Chief, I don't think we can hold on for much longer. We're losing power."

"You won't have to. The Ulysses is here." Meghan says from the Control room.

------

"Ulysses, this is Lieutenant Nichols, come in."

Coran sits on the other side monitoring Voltron.

"Lieutenant Nichols, this is the King."

"King Iran!" Meghan says surprised.

"What can we do?"

"The Commander wants us to commence attack on Lotor's ship. Do not let them follow Voltron."

"Don't worry Lieutenant, we'll keep them busy."

------

"Haggar, Voltron's getting away, with my robeast." Lotor seethes.

"I'm trying to control it sire, but the farther they are, the less grip I have on it. This new magic is much different from my previous one."

"Ammad! Follow them." Lotor orders his human official.

Moments later they feel a hit that rocks the ship."

"What the hell is that?" Lotor screams.

"It's a rather large ship Lotor." Ammad says looking at the screen. "It doesn't look like one of Arus'."

Lotor looks at the screen.

"It's the damn Ulysses!"

**********

Voltron reaches Enud at Mach 5 speed. Once entering the atmosphere, the team sees why the plan might work.

Enud's land is pure ice and continuous snow falls from its sky. Keith scans the area and looks for the deepest part of the planet's ocean to commence his plan.

"Keith, we really are losing power fast. We have to get rid of this thing." Darrell says from his lion.

The beast's eyes are aligned with Voltron's eyes. Keith can see its hatred radiating and looking straight at him.

"Alright, let's see if it will let us go. Eye beams!" Voltron shoots rays of energy from his eyes at his enemy's eyes. The creature screams and is blinded, immediately it tears itself away from them.

Keith uses this opportunity to grab two of its spikes with Voltron's arms and push it down towards the water.

"Put on your safety harness, we're going down!"

Everyone does as orders and immediately hear Keith's next command.

"Argon force field!"

Suddenly a ball of energy is released and engulfs Voltron and the beast. Voltron throws itself in the ocean along with the robeast and then once deep enough releases the beast from its energy ball.

The robeast screams and freezes almost instantaneously. Its last scream frozen in time as the icy waters mutes its pain. Slowly it sinks into the hollow waters.

Voltron then lifts itself up and out of the water and carefully lands itself on the ice.

"Is everyone alright?" Keith asks.

"Yeah," Hunk replies.

"Ok, here." Darrell says.

"Me too." The princess follows.

"Can we get out of here; my shoulder is really killing me."

Keith smiles. He's won…for today.

**********

"Lotor, I can't feel the presence of the robeast anymore." Haggar tells Lotor.

"Did Voltron destroy it?" Lotor asks not looking at Haggar.

"No, I don't detect signs of destruction, just no presence; as if it is…dormant."

A smile appears on Lotor's face, he then starts laughing.

"Why are you laughing? They've beaten us." The reptile skinned official asks Lotor, his hatred toward losing very evident.

"It's the first time they didn't destroy one of our robeasts."

"Yes," Haggar replies also realizing their small win. "And that was just my first attempt at this new magic."

"Keep on working on it Haggar. I'm sure that our next one will be stronger." Lotor says excitedly.

"And don't forget the Commander. In time, I'll have taken total control of his mind." Haggar continues laughing.

"Ammad, cease fire. Let's get out of here." Lotor orders retreat. He then turns to the screen to see Arus. "This isn't over Voltron, not by a long shot!"

**********

Hours later the team returns to the control room and are greeted by Coran, Meghan, Prince Darien and King Iran.

Meghan runs up to Keith, "Thank God you're ok." She says hugging him.

"Told you I'd be."

Allura stands and watches the display of emotions, then looks away.

"Allura, are you ok?" Darien walks over to Allura.

"I'm ok Darien." She simply says as she walks away from him.

"Well, how are you doing Lance." Lance asks himself sarcastically. "Well, not too well Lance, I got a bummed shoulder. That's too bad Lance."

Coran walks up to Lance, "Don't worry Lieutenant. We know about you're shoulder. Dr. Gorma is waiting for you at Med Tec."

Keith sees Iran. "My King, thank you for your help."

"Commander, you can stop calling me that. I assume you won't be returning to the Ulysses, so I am no longer your superior. You are now my friend."

Keith smiles at his mentor and shakes his hand.

"Thanks Iran."

"Don't mention it son."

Darien grinds his teeth with hate, but remains quiet as he watches Allura smile.

------

It is night on Arus. Contrary to the early day's events, it is now peaceful and tranquil. Allura dispersed medical teams and guards to help the citizens of Luna immediately upon her return to the castle. Survivors took refuge in neighboring cities. She made sure to provide shelters in every city should such an attack happen again. The team would go the next day to evaluate and see what needed to be done to restore the city.

Keith, hours after battle, addressed his former team and said his own goodbyes. He then told the Ulysses crew that Meghan would take over as their new commanding officer.

Allura and the rest of the team were there to witness his speech. She was mesmerized by how eloquent and royal it had been. He was caring and she felt that he, even though, had spoken to the general crowd, personally touched each person in the room. He made sure to thank for specifics, not for general things and at the end brought almost all of them to tears. No prince could have done it better.

Iran said his goodbyes to Keith and the team after dinner and returned to the Ulysses. Meghan decided to stay a bit longer and spoke to Keith about logistics and other responsibilities she needed to know now that she was Commander.

Towards the end of the evening, Keith makes his way to the balcony to enjoy a moment of quietness; he finds Meghan has beaten him to it.

She hears him walk out, but doesn't turn around.

"I see why you like it here so much. It's all so natural. Ephas is much more industrial…city like, but here, here it's peaceful."

"I know, you can get lost in thought out here. It's this peace that I am now fighting for again."

Meghan turns around.

"You know that if you ever need our help, the King and I are and will always be at your disposal."

"I know."

"I'm serious. I'm always going to be here for you."

"As will I for you and Iran."

Meghan hesitates for a moment, but then continues,

"I'm sorry about the Princess. I know what you feel for her."

Keith sighs.

"She's beautiful, Keith, but no longer attainable. Are you sure you want to stay here despite that?"

Keith walks past her and looks over the tranquil scene that is Arus.

"I made her a promise, Meghan. I can't and won't turn my back on her…I love her and I'll always will."

She nods.

"All I ask then is for you to stop hiding behind that wall you call honor and properness. You need to let her know how you feel about her. You might be surprised at what she might be willing to do if she knew."

"No. She's made her choice. I won't get in her way. She has to marry a Prince Meghan and I'm by far the least likely candidate. Besides, my greatest concern right now should be Lotor."

"And after."

He turns around to face her.

"I'll find out when I get there."

She rolls her eyes, "You are a stubborn man Commander. Well, at least promise me you'll see Dr. Gorma soon."

"That I will," he answers trying to hide the panic that rises when he remembers what Lotor told him earlier.

"I better get going. We're leaving for Ephas to sign the rest of the paperwork to make my new post official and the King wants me to meet with some dignitaries.

"That will be fun." Keith says smiling.

"Yeah, right." she answers sarcastically.

He walks up to Meghan hugs her and gently pecks her lips with a friendly kiss.

"Meghan, I don't know how to thank you."

"No thanks needed brother. You'd do the same."

-----

Allura quietly walks towards the balcony after she slowly follows Keith there. She's hoping to see him there and talk to him. She stops when she hears a familiar voice. It's Keith.

"That will be fun," she hears him say.

"Yeah, right." _That's Meghan voice._

She hides in the shadows as she watches Keith kiss Meghan. As she watches what she believes are two lovers together, tears run from her eyes.

_'I've lost him'_ she thinks to herself and quietly walks away from the scene.

********

Lotor sits in the throne room watching his women slaves dance before him when he's interrupted by his robot official.

"You have someone who wants to speak with you."

"Who?" he asks, bothered by the interruption.

"He says he's a friend from Galaxy Garrison."

Lotor smiles, "Send him in."

He orders the women away and minutes later a young man appears. His blonde hair is a bit unruly and his brown eyes show pure hatred and loss.

"Officer Summers, how nice of you to come and visit me."

"Lotor, I'm not here for your games. I sent information of value to you, now it is your turn to return the favor."

In the past, Lotor would have reacted to the young man's insolence, but now he knows it's not the time. He has better uses for the kid and would ultimately get revenge on him for his insolence.

"What's your request officer?"

"I want you to help me destroy someone I despise. I want you to help me destroy Lt. Lance McClain."

"The pilot of Voltron's red lion?"

"The man who destroyed my career!"

Lotor stands up and walks to the kid. _'This is going to be quite interesting.'_

"Alright, officer, let me present you to someone who can help you with that. Her work is truly….magical."

That's it for now! Hope you liked it. The story continues in "Tattoos"!


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